الفهرس 
Chapter I. Normal bowel physiology
Clinical presentationOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Irritable bowel syndrome is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders, characterized by chronic recurrent abdominal pain or discomfort associated with altered bowel habits and changes in stool frequency and/or form, without any identified obvious pathogeneic lesion to explain the symptoms. IBS affects an estimated 10-15% of individuals worldwide and has a large impact on health related quality of life and both direct and indirect healthcare costs. Potential pathogenic factors include genes, infectious agents, psychological factors and other loosely defined environmental factors. Traditional pathophysiological factors in IBS include visceral hypersensitivity, altered gastrointestinal motility and secretion. Today IBS is viewed up on as a disorder of dysregulation of so called brain-gut axis, involving abnormal function of the enteric, autonomic and/or central nervous system. The basis of IBS diagnosis include; a suggestive clinical presentation in absence of red flags which draw the physician’s attention to the possibility of underlying organic pathology, application of the symptom-based diagnostic criteria, and differentiating IBS symptoms from other serious conditions presented with similar symptoms. IBS diagnosis in primary care is less exclusive than the existing symptom-based criteria. Symptom-based diagnostic criteria for IBS are entirely based on the subjective symptoms of the patients. Manning’s criteria seem to be the first one to specify the diagnostic criteria. Rome consensus (1988) provoked the attention to IBS among the investigators, with followers like Rome I (1999), and Rome II (2000) in Japan. Recently, Rome III criteria were published (2006), which is more clinical oriented.